Book Review: The 100 Thing Challenge by Dave Bruno

This is the story of one man’s efforts to overcome his own consumerism and severely scale back his belongings to the essential 100 items and live with those for one year. Having read some of the information about Dave Bruno on-line, you will find most of this book to be very familiar. If you have never seen anything about this challenge on-line, the book will offer an interesting insight into day-to-day living.

Bruno does a good job of explaining how he thought of this concept, the process of getting started and the ultimate outcome of reducing his personal items to a mere 100 things – although some items like underwear are broadly counted as one. Given the state of the economy in the USA, there are likely many people that have downsized, right-sized or simplified. The key is to get there and that is the part that is intriguing.

If readers have ever looked into a closet stuffed full of things that are hardly ever used, and may only represent a person that you may have been in the distant past, and you are ready to shed consumerism, then The 100 Thing Challenge may be right up your alley. For most Americans, if you were even to consider how many things you have it may be really helpful to take a long, hard look at your stuff. Fair warning, the experience of evaluating your own consumerism may blow your mind.

An important piece in the book is how the material goods present an idea of something you liked or thought you would like doing. Everyone probably has something they have purchased that looked great at the time and now sits unused for days, months, years taking up space in your world. The dream portion is wonderful as long as you continue to nurture that part of your life. The book suggests that developing into the person we are meant to be is easier to accomplish when our stuff isn’t weighing us down and holding us back.